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Bleach, set 11: episodes 168-179

Story-
Ichigo is a guy who can see ghosts and spirits ever since he could remember. One fateful night, he meets a soul reaper named Rukia Kuchiki. When Rukia protects him from a rogue spirit, a Hollow, she is rendered out of commission and must transfer her power to Ichigo so he can save his family, turning him into a substitute soul reaper. Because Rukia can’t use her powers anymore, Ichigo must take her job as the soul reaper in charge of Karakura town and all the danger involved in it.

Writing-
This is a filler arc for the anime Bleach, meaning that it is anime exclusive. The arc’s plot centers around two things that seem unrelated, but may have more to do with each other than people may think. For one thing, the Third Company of soul reapers has been captain-less until now, since former captain Gin Ichimaru left for Hueco Mundo. The other event is the appearance of a princess from an aristocratic family in the Soul Society whose prestige is just under the four Noble Clans, the Kasumioji. At the same time the princess appears, assassins with swords of strange powers appear, aiming for her life. This DVD, volume 11, doesn’t go as far into Third Company’s conflict, focusing on the Kasumioji Conspiracy more.

A main conflict is that the princess of the Kasumioji clan is extremely spoiled and coddled, coming from an aristocratic clan. As the Soul Society is vastly different from the World of the Living, she gets a wake up call regarding her taking everything for granted, including the love of her caretakers. Ichigo constantly tries to get her to understand that she’s not special by not using her title nor giving her the kind of respect an aristocrat would expect.

Art-
Sometimes the animation looks a bit off here and there (animation too slow, too fast, or something just looks distorted), but that doesn’t happen too much and doesn’t deter from the atmosphere. The character designs and sword designs are all diverse and interesting. The anime retains the style and looks of Tite Kubo’s original manga. The fighting is all fluid, and the special effects for it are all reflective of each attack’s individual power which makes the fight scenes interesting and exciting to watch.

Manga vs Anime-
This is a filler season, so there’s no manga equivalent.

Age and Warning-
As it’s a shounen anime, there’s lots of fighting and blood. There’s the death of three characters, all because of a lust for power. There’s no innuendo in this particular DVD set. Officially, it’s rated OT, for 16+.